Last Resort Recap: Mutiny on the High Seas

The action never stops on Last Resort, does it? In the span of about a week, the crew of the Colorado has been fired upon in the water, stranded on an island, attacked on that island, and had members of their crew kidnapped and killed, just to name a few. And now their captain and XO are being charged with treason and terrorism against the US.

Needless to say, the crew morale is not very high. While Kendal meets with Cortez and Brannan, the two crewmembers who were taken prisoner by island warlord Julian, Chaplin puts two boards in the mess hall – “Stay” and “Go.” The “Go” list is looking like the popular option until Kendal talks to Cortez again and tells her she holds a lot of sway with the female members of the boat and if she decided to stay, maybe others will as well.

Back on the island, James finds out his injured friend in the hospital needs morphine – but lo and behold, Julian has taken it all. After finding this out, James and his friend go a’knocking at Julian’s place, complete with guns and demanding the drugs. Surprisingly, from what we’ve seen of his behavior, Julian acquiesces and gives them the morphine.

Elsewhere on the island, there is an assassination attempt on Chaplin by one of his own men. Turns out, a kill order had come to the boat from the Secretary of Defense. Unsurprisingly, at least from what we know about Chaplin so far, this doesn’t faze him and he makes the crew continue with their daily drills even though any of them could shoot him at any time. He marches right through the line-up with his head held high, in true Chaplin fashion.

Back at home in the United States, Kendal’s wife Christine finds out that because Sam had been charged with treason, she has no income coming in. Her lawyer offers her money to go take care of her sick mother and she accepts it, but them goes on a rampage with a baseball bat toward the reporters and creepy government van that have set up shop on her street. She smashes in a car window and yells directly at the television cameras, “[The government] is lying about what happened to the Colorado! I want the truth! And you should, too!”

The charges catch the attention of Kylie, who had just had a fight with her father about the fact that their life’s work, the specs of the weapon aboard the Colorado, were stolen. In fact, they weren’t stolen at all – the president asked Kylie’s father for them and he handed them over. She later meets with another mole about what was on those plans and why the government would want them. Later, she sees Christine on TV and clearly has a plan of a possible team-up in her head.

Back on the boat after drills, Brannan pulls out a grenade on the crew in the bridge. Turns out, he’s a little shaken after that whole being kidnapped thing and announces he’s taking over the boat. After Chaplin clears the bridge for a heart-to-heart, Brannan says that whether he gets the boat home or blows it up, he will be considered a hero. Chaplin stays calm and gives him a history lesson – he says the United States was founded in protest, under the obligation to stand up to authority when it acts against the best interest of the nation. He tells him that when he volunteered for the Navy, he vowed to defend the Constitution against attacks. That he needs to decide how he can best uphold the vow he took. After Brannan admits he’s the reason Julian’s third prisoner from the crew was killed, the crew comes in with guns drawn and he pulls the pin. He then makes a phone call to the Secretary of Defense, who tells him to blow the ship up. Brannan chooses not to and the crew chooses to stay on the boat and not go back home after Chaplin’s speech to him was broadcast over the ship’s loudspeaker.

After tending to his friend in the hospital, James goes back to the bar for a drink and his friends show up and tell him to grab their other friend’s body out of the refrigerator so they can leave. James doesn’t like this idea – he and Gil did three tours together and for his resistance, they badly beat him up. Earlier, Tani the bartender had encouraged him to give Gil a proper burial so after recovering, he does just that. I didn’t really like James up until this point in the entire series, but as he was burying his friend on an overlook and apologizing that it wasn’t Arlington, it made him seem less harsh and not like a guy that gets drunk all the time to forget his problems.

Did this episode humanize James to you? Are you worried Kendal may eventually stray with Sophie, the Frenchwoman on the island with whom he has great chemistry and who left him with an ambiguous, “There are things on this island worth more than you could ever imagine?” What do you think those things are – the minerals Julian had her taking soil samples of or something else? Do you think this show is leaving us with more questions than answers or are you still on the edge of your seat? Are you looking forward to next week when government officials pay them a visit on the island?